Theresa May is set to U-turn on her pledge to give MPs a free vote on fox hunting to focus on animal welfare.

The Prime Minister will announce plans to permanently drop the commitment to give MPs a free vote on whether to overturn the fox hunting ban in early 2018, the Sunday Times reports.

Going ahead with the U-turn risks infuriating Tories in rural parts of the country.

The plans were described as "pure speculation" by a Downing Street source.

Image:Theresa May's support for fox hunting prompted protests earlier this year

They added: "There is no vote that could change the current policy on fox hunting scheduled in this session of Parliament."

Since Michael Gove was appointed as environment secretary by Mrs May after the June election, he has placed animal welfare at the top of his priority list.

During the election campaign Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn criticised Mrs May for saying she was in favour of fox hunting, which crushed the Prime Minister's authority after the Conservatives lost their Commons majority.

During a visit to a Leeds factory during the election, Mrs May said: "As it happens, personally, I've always been in favour of fox hunting and we maintain our commitment - we had a commitment previously - as a Conservative Party to allow a free vote and that would allow Parliament to take a decision on this."

However there were early indications Mrs May would possibly not go through with the vote after the policy was not included in the Queen's Speech outlining legislation for the 2017-2019 parliamentary session.

Fox hunting has been outlawed since 2004 when Tony Blair's Labour government introduced the Hunting Act banning the use of dogs to hunt foxes and wild mammals in England and Wales.

The chief executive of League Against Cruel Sports, Eduardo Goncalves, said: "It's nearly 2018, not 1818, so its a little strange we're celebrating because a government has renounced fox hunting.